Get Email Updates

The Dispatch E-Edition

All current subscribers have full access to Digital D, which includes the E-Edition and
unlimited premium content on Dispatch.com, BuckeyeXtra.com, BlueJacketsXtra.com and
DispatchPolitics.com.
Subscribe
today!

By Steve HollandReuters • Saturday November 2, 2013 7:37 AM

Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoEvan Vucci | Associated PressNiheh Hosseini, of France, center, protests at the White House against President Obama’s meeting with Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday to
build a more-inclusive democracy in his country and said the United States would cooperate with
Iraq as it tries to push back a resurgent al-Qaida.

As Iraq experiences a rising spiral of sectarian violence two years after U.S. troops departed
following eight years of war, al-Maliki came to Washington seeking U.S. help to counter a Sunni
insurgency revived in part by Syria’s civil war next door.

Obama, in Oval Office remarks with al-Maliki at his side, made no mention of supplying the
U.S.-made Apache helicopters that the Iraqis are seeking from the United States.

A statement issued by the two governments said both delegations agreed that Iraqi forces
urgently needed additional equipment to conduct operations in remote areas where militant camps are
located. But it did not specifically cite military aid.

“We had a lot of discussion about how we can work together to push back against that terrorist
organization that operates not only in Iraq but also poses a threat to the entire region and to the
United States,” Obama said.

He focused most of his remarks on the need for Iraq to take more steps toward an inclusive
democracy, such as by approving an election law and holding free and fair elections next year, “so
people can resolve differences through politics instead of violence.”

Al-Maliki is seeking increased military aid such as the Apache helicopters to suppress sectarian
violence, but he faces opposition from some U.S. lawmakers.

On Thursday, six influential senators took a hard line against al-Maliki, saying his
mismanagement of Iraqi politics was contributing to the surge of violence in which 7,000 civilians
have been killed this year.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has been widely criticized in Iraq and in Washington for failing to give
Iraq’s Sunnis, Kurds and other minorities a greater role in the country’s central government.

The joint U.S.-Iraqi statement noted the Iraqis stressed a desire to purchase U.S. equipment and
confirmed a commitment to ensure strict compliance with U.S. laws and regulations on the use of
such equipment.

Al-Maliki, speaking through an interpreter, said he and Obama talked about how to counter
terrorism and that he wanted to strengthen democracy in Iraq.

The two leaders also agreed on the need for a peaceful resolution to Syria’s civil war and to
Iran’s nuclear ambitions.